Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) - Five of the Republican Party's leading presidential contenders traveled to South Carolina on Labor Day to kiss the ring of tea party kingmaker Jim DeMint at a first-of-its-kind forum devoted to the Constitution and the role of government.

DeMint, a South Carolina senator who rose to national prominence during the 2010 midterm elections as a power broker of the tea party movement, joined with Iowa Rep. Steve King and a Princeton law professor at the Palmetto Freedom Forum in Columbia.

(CNN) – Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, hit on many of the regular themes of his candidacy during his appearance Monday at the Palmetto Freedom Forum.

The event featured five GOP presidential contenders taking questions individually from a panel comprised of GOP Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, GOP Rep. Steve King of Iowa, and Professor Robert George of the American Principles Project. Before the questioning, each candidate was given the opportunity to speak about the country's founding principles.FULL POST

(CNN) - Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Monday that the issue of health care will be "one of my best assets" if he goes on to win the Republican nomination and debate President Barack Obama in the general election.

"And I'll say to him, why didn't you give me a call? I would have told you what to do right and what not to do," Romney said to laughter at Sen. Jim DeMint's forum in South Carolina Monday.FULL POST

(CNN) – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, speaking before Sen. Jim DeMint's forum in South Carolina Monday, was hardly shy about criticizing President Barack Obama, once again calling him the "most effective food stamp president in American history."

"The gap between the America the founding fathers created and the system currently down in Washington is extraordinary," he said. "We are in great danger of decaying from citizenship to being subjects … this is a system rum amok."FULL POST

(CNN) - On the eve of rival Mitt Romney's speech announcing his own jobs plan, Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain laid out his own plan for turning the sagging economy around.

Speaking Monday in South Carolina at the Palmetto Freedom Forum sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, Cain laid out his "bold" plan dubbed "9-9-9." The former businessman explained that he would do away with the existing tax code and replace it with a nine percent tax on corporate income, a nine percent tax on personal income and a nine percent national sales tax.FULL POST

(CNN) - Painting herself as a "constitutional conservative" Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann told Sen. Jim DeMint's forum Monday that if elected president she would look to get rid of the Department of Education, among other things.

"Because the Constitution does not specifically enumerate nor does it give to the federal government the role and duty to superintend over education that historically has been held by the parents and by local communities and by state governments," she said, responding to a question by DeMint, a popular figure among the tea party movement.FULL POST

(CNN) - President Barack Obama told a Labor Day crowd in Detroit that he's prepared to fight for a new job growth plan, defend organized labor and take steps to "restore the middle class in America," while five Republican candidates hoping to defeat him next year all called for repealing the major legislation passed so far in Obama's presidency.

The Republican presidential candidates participating in the Palmetto Freedom Forum in Columbia, South Carolina, which was televised on CNN, were unified in advocating the end of the health care reform law and the Wall Street reform measure passed by a Democratic-led Congress.

UPDATE: DeMint and event organizers told CNN Perry will be unable to participate in the event remotely.

Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry is returning home to handle the growing threat of wildfires there, but his campaign says he is still trying to make arrangements to participate remotely in Sen. Jim DeMint's presidential forum in South Carolina.

"It is my understanding that he has tried to speak with Sen. DeMint and we are trying to make arrangements to do this from Austin," Katon Dawson, Perry's South Carolina campaign chairman, told CNN.FULL POST

(CNN) - Republican presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry will not attend the Palmetto Freedom Forum of GOP candidates Monday night, sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint, and will instead return to Texas to deal with the wildfires in the state, DeMint and the Perry campaign told CNN.

The South Carolina senator's office said they learned of Perry's plans not to attend the Columbia, South Carolina event Monday morning.FULL POST